Wood chips in smoke tube

[Edchad]

I guess this is the right place for this as it’s not exactly Pit Boss.
Somebody posted a video of a guy using wood chips instead of pellets in his tube. I stumbled across it again this morning and watched it again. I have the remains of an old electric smoker and decided to use it as a testing ground. As Mike and others have posted the chips went pretty fast. I remembered the guy literally packed them in there with a rod and I recalled somebody else saying to mix it with pellets so I gave it another try. This time I put in hickory chips about 2” deep and packed the heck out of them with a 1/2” steel bar. I added about an inch of KingsFord hickory pellets and packed that down. So forth and so Forth. Was using my 6” tube btw. Before I torched it up I happened to find an old steel tray that was a perfect size. I stood the tube up in the gravel and took a propane torch to it and really got it fired up. Let it burn in flame for 5-6 minutes and blew out the flame. With welding gloves and some old channel locks gently laid it in the tray and put it in that old smoker just on a rack.
I was actually pretty surprised. I guess packing the stuff in must have helped because it smoldered and smoked good for over three and half hours. I’m cooking again in the morning barring a disaster. Lol. I think I’m going to load up my 12” tube and give it a go. Ill watch it carefully of course for flare ups etc. Just something to try. It doesn’t take that long to load one up. And if I’m going to use a tube anyway. Why not?

 

[Elfcane]

Good stuff!

 

[MikeInFla]

Good! I'll try packing them down, I have not done that yet. All I day was kind of bang it on the ground a few times.

 

[Elfcane]

Good! I'll try packing them down, I have not done that yet. All I day was kind of bang it on the ground a few times.

The ancient secret to get anything to work if you ask me...

 

[Edchad]

Well. Started off very good. But I noticed the smoke dwindling. Pulled it out and cocked it up on that old tray I mentioned from yesterday. I guess it needed some venting o the bottom? Close to an hour now. Still huffing lol. We’ll see.

 

[Edchad]

Not that I’m OCD or anything. Lol. But I ran downstairs earlier this morning and welded up a ‘chip packer’ with a handle.
still smoking pretty good btw.

 

[Edchad]

Time to go to my recliner and watch my Smoke IT. Still smoking pretty well. Started about 915 I believe. An hour and 15 mins ago. Still smoking, I guess it needed ventilation as well, from cocking that end up. I was going to have the 6” ready but I’m just gonna let this go. It’ll either work or not. And I’m tired of smelling smoke. Lol

 

[Edchad]

Very. Close to two hours now. Still going.

 

[Edchad]

Dang. Almost ready to wrap. Still smoking.

 

[Edchad]

Ok. Had to wrap, so I pulled the tube out since it won’t be smoking thru the foil and got pictures of what it did. Basiclly it poured on 2 hours and 45 minutes of smoke. As you can see there’s still close to 1/2 the tube still unburned. Hoping the flavor is smokier. It was about 2:1 chips to pellets. I guess the guy in the video knew what he was talking about. I don’t recall him raising it up to vent but who knows.
oh. If anybody’s wondering this is another London broil test. Lol. The last one I seared on the grill afterwards was pretty good but was still on the chewy side. While wrapped gonna take it on up to 200-205 degrees and see what happens.
I probably am ruining this thing. Lol. But we know what a tube PACKED with chips and pellets can do.
If this worked via taste at all I’m going to weld up a tray to hold this 12” with a ‘riser’ on one end to duplicate this.

 

[Edchad]

Well. I can honestly say it’s smoky. Very nice hickory smoke flavor. And the cut itself more tender than any I’ve ever cooked. Or have eaten, for that matter. Isn’t like mushy tender but cut with a fork tender which is rare with these I guess. Well. Best I’ve done anyway. And the smoke tube test. I’ll be downstairs shortly welding up a tray/holder for that long tube. I can see this being done often.

 

[MikeInFla]

Nice! Trying to decide what to cook this weekend. Might 2 do racks of ribs, one wrapped one not and use my smoke tube

 

[Edchad]

Nice! Trying to decide what to cook this weekend. Might 2 do racks of ribs, one wrapped one not and use my smoke tube

Cool! Pack em in tight and light em better than U ever have. Lol. Good luck!

 

[Edchad]

Nice! Trying to decide what to cook this weekend. Might 2 do racks of ribs, one wrapped one not and use my smoke tube

Hey Mike. Did you give that a try? Just curious. I didn’t smoke today but was still in Test mode. I had a couple of other ideas. Some sparked from some YouTubers but modified and a couple of my own. One thing I did and I just had to see. I took my 12” tube and packed a couple of inches chips in the end. I took some small pieces of hickory chunks I cut out and placed next. Next went in one small briquet of charcoal. And proceeded in that order till full. Lit it up. Good fire. Wait ten mins and put it in the old cabinet I used the other day. I was curious if the charcoal would catch and smolder and keep it going down the line of the 12” tube any better. Well it sorta worked. Lol would have a good burn and smoke and then a tiny one for awhile. Then good then not so good. The kicker was the charcoal was self lighting And it stunk to high heavens. Tried again with normal briquette. Did not make it past the first one. Stopped there. Everything was tamped down well like the other day.
Anyway I broke down and got my 6” tube and did exactly as the other day. Chips. Kingsford pellets. Chips. Etc etc. And when I say tamped in tight I mean tight.
I lit it up. Waited maybe 7 mins. Blew it out to the smolder and eased it in the old master built cabinet. I’m telling ya. It was great. Just a nice smooth clean burn to the end. My wife wanted some regular ol bbq pork chops off the Weber and I thought. Hey. Awful lotta smoke out there. Lol. I put six 3/4” chops on one of those disposable matts and left for about 30 mins. Pulled em out and took to the Weber and cooked them. Outstanding smoky taste.

Oh yea the old Master built was not even plugged in btw. Just using the rack cabinet and door. Long story shortened again the six inch tube smoked great for close to three hours. And when I pulled it out there was just a nice layer of ash in it. Another thing. And I don’t know if it had anything to do with it but I placed it right in the middle of my 5x8 A MAZE N tray. Fit perfectly. And it MAY have vented it better than what I did the other day.
I know most don’t give a hoot. But thought I’d share this stuff with anybody interested. Not even exactly my idea at all. Just a slight twist or two. I’ve got a lot of help in here. Just thought maybe could repay the favor to anybody interested.

 

[Elfcane]

Not that I’m OCD or anything. Lol. But I ran downstairs earlier this morning and welded up a ‘chip packer’ with a handle.
still smoking pretty good btw.

Not that you're OCD eh???